Fears about a Virginia captive's health added urgency to the SEAL raid that freed two from Somali pirates on Thursday night.
Jessica Buchanan, 32, was in Somalia working for the aid group Danish Demining Group, a division of the Danish Refugee Council. The international NGO works with communities in war-torn areas to help with social and economic development.
Buchanan has roots in Bedford, Virginia, near Lynchburg.
Armed men abducted Buchanan and a colleague, 60-year-old Poul Hagen Thisted, of Denmark, on October 25 in Galkayo, Gulmundug state. The two were working with a unit that was removing land mines at the time of their abduction.
A U.S. official confirmed local media reports that the SEALs parachuted into the area near the Somali town of Adabo under cover of darkness Thursday, before moving on foot to the target.
A Somali source told the Associated Press that nine were killed in the raid, and three others were captured by SEALs. According to the source, the raid happened while the captors were sleeping.
A source told the A.P. the SEALs involved in the rescue were from the same unit that killed Osama Bin Laden.
New intelligence emerged last week that Buchanan's health was "deteriorating rapidly," so Obama directed his security team to develop a rescue plan, according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Danish Refugee Council had been making appeals for Buchanan's release with Somali elders prior to the raid because of concerns for her health.
"Jessica Buchanan was selflessly serving her fellow human beings when she was taken hostage by criminals and pirates who showed no regard for her health and well-being," Obama said. "The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice."
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The Danish Refugee Council said both were unharmed after the rescue.
Ann Mary Olsen, an officer with the Danish Refugee Council, told the AP she had called the families of Buchanan and Thisted to inform them of their liberation. "``They were very happy and incredibly relieved that it is over,'' she said.
